Reading Between the Lines: Belgium’s See-Through Church

At one angle, it looks almost solid: a small church-shaped building in the landscape. Move a few steps and the fields appear through its walls. Reading Between the Lines does not need a trick or a screen. The change happens because you move.

The artwork near Borgloon in Belgium is by Gijs Van Vaerenbergh. Its familiar outline makes the experience immediate, while the gaps between its steel layers invite you to keep looking. Plan a little time to walk around it rather than arriving for a single photograph.

A sculpture in the shape of a church

Visit Limburg’s description identifies a roughly ten-metre-high structure made from one hundred stacked layers of steel. The church form is recognizable, but the building is an artwork rather than a conventional enclosed place of worship.

From some positions, the layers overlap enough to make the walls appear dense. From others, the spaces between them allow the background to become part of what you see. It is a physical relationship between material, viewpoint and light.

The title gives you a useful way to think about it. The empty spaces matter as much as the steel, and the countryside is part of the experience rather than simply a backdrop.

Try three viewpoints

Begin far enough away to see the outline clearly from a permitted approach. Notice how quickly your mind recognizes a church, even though its construction is unusual.

Then walk around at a comfortable distance. Watch the walls become more or less transparent as the angle changes. Look through the structure towards a tree, a field or the sky and see how the same subject appears framed differently.

Finally, if the current access arrangements allow it, experience the interior. The sense of enclosure can be surprisingly different from the view outside. There is no need to rush from one side to another; the changing perception is the point.

Plan for the setting

Use the local visitor information for the current approach, parking and any restrictions. The artwork sits in a rural landscape, so do not assume a navigation pin marks a place where you can drive or leave a vehicle.

Wear shoes that suit the paths and weather. Ask about the exact surface and access route if you need a step-free approach or are traveling with a pushchair. A photograph taken in dry sunshine cannot tell you what a path will be like after rain.

Our suggestion is to combine the artwork with a walk or time in the surrounding area, allowing for the actual distances. It is a distinctive stop, but it should not be padded into an imaginary full-day attraction if your interest is simply seeing the sculpture.

Photograph the changing view

Take one image where the form looks solid and another where the landscape is clearly visible through it. That pair tells the story better than a caption claiming the church has vanished.

Keep to permitted routes and avoid climbing, hanging from or treating the layers as play equipment. Leave space for other people to experience the interior and the approaches. If you want an empty frame, patience is a better solution than asking everyone to leave.

Light can change the impression, but there is no single mandatory moment to visit. A cloudy day may reveal the structure in a quieter way; strong light can make the contrast more pronounced. Enjoy the conditions you actually have.

Follow the idea across other places

The Moses Bridge in the Netherlands also makes a familiar structure feel unexpected by changing its relationship with the surrounding landscape. The Van Gogh bicycle path introduces a different transformation after dark.

For a Belgian outing where the seasonal landscape itself is the attraction, Hallerbos offers woodland and bluebells when conditions are right. Plan these as separate experiences, with their own travel and access checks.

Reading Between the Lines is a satisfying reminder that a place does not always need to change for us to see it differently. Sometimes a few steps are enough.